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Piratas de Quebradillas
The Piratas de Quebradillas (lit. "Quebradillas Pirates") is a Puerto Rican basketball team, part of the National Superior Basketball League. Founded in the 1930s, it is one of the original teams of the league. The team had its most successful era during the 1970s, when they won 4 championships -including a threepeat- and participated in 6 league finals. However, after the 2004 season the team suffered from financial problems which prevented them from participating for the following five seasons. They returned in 2009 with new players and a new arena as well as a trip to the league finals. The Piratas are known for their loyal fan-base and extremely loud home games. Early history Quebradillas Pirates was founded in 1932 as one of the original five teams of the Puerto Rican Basketball League. Among its early star players where Teíque Linares and "Varilla" Lugo. The team participated in one league finales during the 1936 seasons, but the next three decades where characterized by poor performances during the tournament. This changed by the end of the 1960s when a new batch of Puerto Rican players born in New York where signed by the team. The Dalmau Era (1969 - 1986) In 1966 Quebradillas signed Raymond Dalmau who became rookie of the year and in 1969 Neftali Rivera who also became the rookie of the year would go on to become legends in Puerto Rican Basketball, also known as the dynamic duo. Together, these two players led the team to its first team championship during the 1970 season. This team was coached by Eric Geldhart and assisted by local talented coach Willie Padin. The dominance of Quebradillas Pirates continued during the 1970s, including 8 trips to BSN finals. However, they were defeated in the finals by the Bayamon Cowboys in 1972, 73 and 75 and by Rio Piedras Cardinals in 1976; Quebradillas won the title again in 1977 through 1979 for a total of 8 finals in the 10 years of the 1970 decade. 1979 was their last Pirates championship and for dynamic duo who went to play together until 1981. Quebradillas lost to the Mets in the finals in 1980 and 1982 (this one without Rivera) who went to play for the Ponce Lions in 1982. Dalmau went on to finish his career in Quebradillas in 1985 when the Pirates were eliminated in the quarter finals by the Morovis Titans Decline Following the retirement of Dalmau, Quebradillas struggled to keep their presence as a dominant team in the league. With players like Orlando Vega and Jimmy Ferrer, the team managed to make several postseason runs, but they never made it to the league finals. Raymond Dalmau himself coached the team on several occasions. During the 1988 season, Quebradillas was coached by future NBA legendary coach Phil Jackson who, at that time, had not yet found a contract with any NBA teams. After a poor season start, Quebradillas fired coach Jackson, who went on to win 11 NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Second Dalmau Era and Financial Crisis It would be the two sons of Raymond Dalmau which would return the Pirates to their former glory. Richie and Ricardo Dalmau led the team to two consecutive BSN finals in 1999 and 2000. However, the team lost both finals to the Santurce Crabbers which were led by NBA players José Ortíz and Carlos Arroyo. After these finals appearances, Quebradillas continued to be a competitive team, reaching the league semi-finals in several occasions. However, the team confronted financial problems at the end of the 2003 seasons which led the league to declare every Pirate player a free agent. The financial problems where mostly attributed to the fact that the team played in a small 2,000 seat arena which hindered their capabilities to obtain significant financial endorsements. The team played during the 2004 seasons with mostly amateur players and finished the season with a league-worst 5-25 record. Return to Success The municipality of Quebradillas committed to the construction of a new arena which was finalized in 2008. This new arena was named after Raymond Dalmau and it permitted the team to return to active league competition. Owner Carlos Rodríguez bought the rights to the Caguas Creoles players and brought them to Quebradillas. Among them was current Puerto Rican National Team center Peter John Ramos. Former Connecticut Huskies star point guard Marcus Williams joined the team as well as Australian forward Shawn Redhage. Also, former Florida Gator David Huertas declined participating in his last NCAA season to join the team. The team went on to establish a 22-8 record, second best on the league. They advanced to the league finals for the first time since 2000 against their legendary rivals, the Bayamon Cowboys. The Bayamon Cowboys won the series in 6 games, defeating the Pirates 84-82 in the final game. Current Team References External links Category:BSN teams it:Piratas de Quebradillas